Middle East | featured news

A U.S. official confirms that the aircraft is an RQ-170 drone, which Iran says it brought down. Iran protests what it says was a violation of its airspace. Iranian television aired video Thursday of what it said is an American surveillance drone that the country's armed forces claimed to have brought down during the weekend.

The Obama administration has opened a virtual embassy for Iran to encourage dialogue with the Iranian people.

Afghanistan expects to remain dependent on international economic assistance until 2025, according to projections President Hamid Karzai will deliver to global partners at a conference here Monday. Together with ongoing costs to support the Afghan army and police forces, at least $10 billion in assistance will be required annually after the scheduled departure of foreign combat forces by the end of 2014.

Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency says the country's armed forces have shot down an unmanned U.S. spy plane that violated Iranian airspace along its eastern border.

President Hamid Karzai has pardoned a jailed rape victim, but only after she agreed to marry the man she says raped her. The 19-year-old woman, whose name is Gulnaz, was one of the subjects of a documentary recently produced by the European Union, highlighting the phenomenon of rape victims being imprisoned for the "moral crime" of having sex outside marriage, even against their will.

Syria is now in a state of civil war with more than 4,000 dead and increasing numbers of defecting soldiers taking up arms against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, the top United Nations human rights official said on Thursday.

A U.N. investigation released Monday accused Syrian forces of killing and torturing children and other crimes against humanity.

The Arab League has approved sanctions against Syria to pressure the regime to end its deadly eight-month crackdown on dissent.

Thousands gathered outside the American Consulate in Karachi on Sunday to protest against a NATO cross-border air attack that killed 24 Pakistani troops.

Taliban members who agree to stop fighting are being paid 100 pounds per month in an attempt to reduce attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan, a newspaper says.